Controlled substance tracking system and method

ABSTRACT

A method for tracking prescriptive medications is provided whereby a complete prescriptive medication history including active and inactive prescriptive medications is stored for a plurality of patients utilizing a plurality of pharmacies wherein the pharmacies may be affiliated or unaffiliated. The information may be selectively retrieved through a secure computer connection by entities such as hospitals, doctors, pharmacies, insurance companies, government agencies and the like. The information may be utilized to benefit the patient whereby a doctor is able to obtain an accurate view of the complete prescriptive medication history of the patient including prescriptive medications by other doctors. Hospitals will be able to obtain, in accord with the invention, a prescriptive medication history prior to treatment such as emergency treatment where such information is not normally available. The stored data for each prescriptive medication transaction includes searchable data such as the patient&#39;s name, address, doctor, pharmacy, aberrant use flag, and the like.

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 60/332,807, filed on Nov. 14, 2001, and is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/062,251, filed Jan. 31,2002.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates generally to methods for trackingcontrolled substances and, more specifically, to methods especiallysuitable for tracking and managing prescription information inaggregate.

BACKGROUND ART

[0003] Although the exact frequency of prescription drug abuse isunknown in the United States, it has been reported that more than fiftypercent of all emergency room visits for drug-related problems areconnected to prescription drug misuse or accidental overdose. It hasalso been estimated that in some communities, more than sixty percent ofmedical examiner cases are related to prescription drugs.

[0004] It is estimated that more than four million people a year in theU.S. misuse or abuse prescription drugs. For instance, according to anAugust 1999 article in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society,older Americans (age 65 and older) currently account for 12.5% of thetotal US population, but consume 25% of all prescription medications. Itis documented that 17% of the senior population misuses medications,accounting for approximately $2 billion loss annually.

[0005] The AMA estimates that 5% of physicians are grossly negligent and1-1.5% are dishonest in their prescribing of pharmaceuticals. This wouldamount to a cost of $2.5 billion annually.

[0006] Three hundred fifty thousand adverse medication errors (probablyfar greater not reported) occur each year among one-half million nursinghome residents in the United States. One employee in ten has a problemwith alcohol/drugs. Absenteeism is 66% higher among drug users.

[0007] Among drug users, health benefit utilization is 300% higher,disciplinary actions are 90% higher, and employee turnover issignificantly higher. Forty-seven percent of workplace accidents aredrug related.

[0008] In fact, it is clear that the Healthcare industry is facing anumber of challenges today unlike ever faced before. An educated,consuming public has ever increasing expectations for exponentialimprovement in healthcare delivery, while at the same time, economicpressures are forcing tighter controls over cost, efficiency andquality.

[0009] The industry has widely recognized a need for betterefficiencies, but without notable success in many areas, includingprescription abuse. For instance, the Healthcare Information Portabilityand Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates making the exchange ofinformation more ubiquitous, secure, and efficient but does not providea solution with respect to prescription tracking and abuse. While it iswell known that it would be desirable to reduce spiraling coststructures, mitigate health risks, provide more efficient billing andbusiness modeling, eliminate redundancy, and improve informational flow,the solutions to such overwhelming problems are generally unavailable.

[0010] In 1993, prescription drug sales were $25 billion. Since thattime prescriptions have risen more than 50%, totaling close to threebillion prescriptions annually. With soaring costs, the sum ofprescription drugs is currently greater that $50 billion annually, withlimited ability to control or manage those costs.

[0011] These estimates are only for the cost of drugs themselves, anddon't include many of the highly significant tangential costs associatedwith abuse, additional healthcare requirements and costs associated withdrug interactions, insurance fraud resulting from purchase of classdrugs for resale on the street, dispensing of wrong prescriptions due tomisread prescriptions, and the like, which are proportionally of greatercost.

[0012] It would be desirable to provide a healthcare utility that canassist substantially in reducing these misused and abused prescriptions.It would be desirable to provide major changes in the delivery ofprescription drugs that produce measurable social and economic impactson spending within the healthcare value chain including lessabuse-related healthcare costs, fewer erroneous prescriptions, moreaccountability, and better tracking and management of prescriptions.

[0013] Patents that involve attempts to solve the above or relatedproblems include the following:

[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,524, issued May 23, 2000, to Byerly et al.,discloses a method and system for generating advisory messages topharmacy patients that includes appending patient-specific informationto a data record containing normally transmitted information. The datarecord is transmitted between a third party computer and a pharmacycomputer during a pharmacy transaction. The data record transmitted tothe pharmacy computer is captured by an advisory computer as the datarecord is received by the pharmacy computer or after the data record istransmitted to the pharmacy computer, and the patient-specificinformation is extracted from the captured data record. The advisorycomputer generates an advisory message based on the extractedpatient-specific information, and it transmits the generated advisorymessage to a pharmacy printer. The advisory computer includes a memorycontaining a data structure for storing the patient-specificinformation, the normally transmitted information, and the generatedadvisory message. A computer program product includes a computer storagemedium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computerstorage medium for causing a computer to generate an advisory message.The computer program code mechanism includes a first computer codedevice configured to append the patient-specific information, a secondcomputer code device configured to capture the data record transmittedto the pharmacy computer, a third computer code device configured toextract the patient-specific information from the captured data record,a fourth computer code device configured to generate the advisorymessage based on the extracted patient specific information, and a fifthcomputer code device configured to transmit the generated advisorymessage to the pharmacy printer.

[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,507, issued Apr. 25, 2000, to D. W.Cunningham, discloses a new and improved method of dispensing, trackingand managing pharmaceutical product samples by communicatively linkingprescribers and pharmacies to a central computing station. The methodentails utilizing product trial media that is exchanged for actualpharmaceutical product. The media is encoded with information thatidentifies a particular pharmaceutical trial product, such as bymagnetic encoding similar to that used with credit cards. The media isdistributed to participating medical doctors or prescribers who thenactivate the media via the central computing station. The prescriberthen transfers the activated media to patients who then present themedia to participating pharmacies. Before filling the pharmaceuticaltrial product identified by the media, the pharmacy validates the mediavia a link with the central computing station. Then, the pharmacydispenses the prescribed pharmaceutical trial product. The centralcomputing station also includes a database that records data related tothe use of the media so that all pharmaceutical trial products can beaccounted for.

[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,420, issued Aug. 6, 1996, to Goldman et al.,discloses a health care system for specifying edibles to individualsubjects. The personalized method and system for storage, communication,analysis and processing of health-related data comprises a storagecontaining data relating to health and edibles and is adapted to receivedata on the conditions and characteristics of the individual subjects.The health care system further comprises input terminals adapted to becoupled to the storage means for providing data on the conditions andcharacteristics of the individual subjects, and a health computer forcorrelating the data relating to health and edibles with the data on thecondition and characteristics of an individual subject to provide apersonalized prescription of edibles.

[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,530, issued May 13, 1997, to G. B. Thornton,discloses a method and system for collectively tracking demographics ofphysician prescribed starter drug samples dispensed to a plurality ofpatients from a plurality of different dispensing locations employs amultipart product specific sample drug voucher, such as a smart card ora preprinted two part voucher, which has a marketing information portionand a separable prescription portion to be completed by the prescribingphysician with starter drug sample quantity and dosage information alongwith patient demographic information. The prescription portion issegregated from the marketing information portion at the pharmacy eitherelectronically by a card reader, if it had been encoded on a smart cardby the physician, or physically by separation along a perforation, ifrecorded on a two part voucher, and is electronically retreivably storedin the pharmacy computer from where this tracking information iselectronically transmitted to a central remote computer, such as at thedrug manufacturer, for subsequent rapid market analysis.

[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,539, issued Apr. 7, 1998, to Edelson et al.,discloses an electronic prescription creation system for use byprofessional prescribers at the point of care which has a prescriptiondivision subsystem permitting creation of a single prescription to beautomatically divided into two components for fulfilment of one portionquickly and locally at higher cost and of another portion by remote mailorder taking more time but providing a cost saving for a major part ofthe prescription. The prescription creation system has an ability toaccess remote source databases for system presentation to the prescriberof relevant, authorized and current drug, drug formulary and patienthistory information, with dynamic creation of a transient virtualpatient record, the information being presented to the prescriber beforecompletion of the prescription, permitting enhancement of the quality ofprescribing decisions.

[0019] U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,095, issued May 26, 1998, to Albaum et al.,discloses a system and method for ordering and prescribing drugs for apatient. This system includes an improved process for facilitating andautomating the process of drug order entry. The user may interact withthe system in a variety of ways such as keyboard, mouse, pen-base entryor voice entry. The system includes a database containing medicalprescribing and drug information which is both general andpatient-specific. The system also permits the user to view current andpreviously prescribed medications for any patient. The system can alertthe user to potentially adverse situations as a result of the prescribedmedication based on information in the database. The system also canautomatically determine product selection based on descriptions and canautomatically communicate the order to a pharmacy. Further, the systemincludes a means for automatically displaying messages to the userrelating to predetermined situations. For example, such situations mayinclude a medication which is not available in the formulary or theprescription of a non-recommended medication. The system streamlines theorder entry process and makes information important to the drug orderingprocess easily available.

[0020] U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,255, issued Dec. 1, 1998, to C. Mayaud,discloses a wirelessly deployable, electronic prescription creationsystem for physician use that captures into a prescription a patientcondition-objective of the prescribed treatment and provides for patientrecord assembly from source elements, with privacy controls for patientand doctor, adverse indication review and online access to comprehensivedrug information including scientific literature. Extensions to novelmulti-drug packages and dispensing devices, and an “intelligent network”remote data retrieval architecture as well as onscreenphysician-to-pharmacy and physician-to-physician e-mail are alsoprovided.

[0021] U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,731, issued Nov. 23, 1999, to Colon et al.,discloses a computer system and method for managing data used inconducting clinical studies concerning subjects at a plurality ofparticipating, geographically distributed clinical sites, wherein eachparticipating clinical site having a computer or inputting, transmittingand receiving data over the Internet. An Internet network servercomputer is interfaced to a database host computer through a privatenetwork. The system communicates data over the Internet to determinepatient eligibility, randomization and initial prescriptions, which canthen be adjusted by the physician online. The final prescription isprinted out for signature and sent electronically to a distributioncenter. Study data is maintained in a database in the host computerbehind a firewall provided in the Internet server computer.

[0022] U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,449, issued Nov. 3, 1998, to D. W.Cunningham, discloses a new and improved method of dispensing, trackingand managing pharmaceutical product samples by communicatively linkingprescribers and pharmacies to a central computing station. The methodentails utilizing product trial media that is exchanged for actualpharmaceutical product. The media is encoded with information thatidentifies a particular pharmaceutical trial product, such as bymagnetic encoding similar to that used with credit cards. The media isdistributed to participating medical doctors or prescribers who thenactivate the media via the central computing station. The prescriberthen transfers the activated media to patients who then present themedia to participating pharmacies. Before filling the pharmaceuticaltrial product identified by the media, the pharmacy validates the mediavia a link with the central computing station. Then, the pharmacydispenses the prescribed pharmaceutical trial product. The centralcomputing station also includes a database that records data related tothe use of the media so that all pharmaceutical trial products can beaccounted for.

[0023] U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,156, issued May 30, 2000, to Liff et al.,discloses an automated drug dispensing system that includes a cabinetadapted to store a variety of prepackaged pharmaceuticals in a pluralityof bins for filling patient prescriptions. Each bin stores a particularvariety of packaged multiple-dose pharmaceutical. Each variety ofpharmaceutical is associated with a particular code. A controllerreceives request signals and in response generates dispense signals.Each bin includes a dispenser coupled to the controller for dispensingthe packaged pharmaceuticals therefrom in response to a dispense signalsent from the controller. After a package is dispensed, a code readerdetermines the code of the dispensed package and verifies whether thecode on the dispensed package matches the code of the requested package.

[0024] U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,106, issued Jun. 6, 2000, to Rozen et al.,discloses a method whereby via Internet communications or viaphone/fax/mail, a participant is prompted to provide a constantidentifier and a selected password. Emergency and confidentialcategories of medical information are identified, and the participant isprompted to provide personal information in each of the categories and adifferent personal identification number (E-PIN, C-PIN) for eachcategory. The participant is also prompted to provide an instruction todisclose or to not disclose the personal information in the emergencycategory in the event a requester of the information is an emergencymedical facility and is unable to provide the participant's E-PIN.Alteration of any of the participant's medical information is enabledupon presentation of the participant's identifier and password by therequester. The emergency information or the confidential information isdisclosed upon presentation of the participant's identifier and E-PIN orC-PIN. In addition, the emergency information is disclosed to anemergency medical facility verified as such by a service provider in theevent the participant has provided an instruction to disclose theemergency information. Storage and access to health related documentssuch as healthcare power of attorney, consent for treatment, andeyeglass prescription is also provided.

[0025] U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,620, issued Oct. 3, 2000, to Pissanos et al.,discloses a medical database and associated methods especially suitedfor compiling information in a medical malpractice situation. A generalmedical database is provided and specific medical informationcorresponding to a given situation is entered. Entry of the informationautomatically cross-references some terms of the entered data todefinitions in the general medical database. Terms are readily looked upwhen reviewing specific medical information and definitions are easilyinserted where desired. A drug reference display provides two-way lookupfrom drugs to their side effects (or contraindications or interactions)and back. Significant information from an entered medical chronology iseasily copied to a significant information section when a reviewer findsthe information important.

[0026] U.S. Pat. No. 6,195,612, issued Feb. 27, 2001, to T. L.Pack-Harris, discloses a pharmacy benefit management system thatincludes a pharmacy computer for generating pharmacy claim informationbased on pharmacy activity of a medical group. A health plan computer isresponsive to the pharmacy claim information for generating pharmacyactivity information for the medical group. A medical group computerreceives the pharmacy activity information from the health plan computerand stores the pharmacy activity information. The pharmacy activityinformation is processed to generate utilization information to enablethe medical group to monitor the pharmacy activity.

[0027] U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,104 B1, issued Apr. 10, 2001, to Mosfeghi etal., discloses a Computer-based Patient Record (CPR) system includinguser equipment devices which are configured for speech synthesis inresponse to speech markup language text and which are connected via anetwork to a middle tier of a server system. The CPR system furtherincludes a message delivery facility for delivery of textual messages toany of pager, electronic mail, or voice mail (after text-to-speechsynthesis) message delivery vehicles. The server system accesses a userspecific data store containing speech synthesis profiles which includeprosodic information of the voices and speech of users, and messagedelivery profiles which specify which of the aforementioned messagedelivery vehicles are to be used and in what order. The stored speechsynthesis information associated with an originator of a message and thestored message delivery information associated with the recipient ofmessage are provided by the server to user equipment or a remindergenerator to produce speech markup files containing information neededto synthesize the vocal and speech characteristics of the originatoraccompanied by delivery instructions reflecting the message deliverypreferences of the recipient.

[0028] U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,674 B1, issued Apr. 17, 2001, to J. B.Classen, discloses systems and methods for creating and using productdata to enhance the safety of a medical or non-medical products. Thesystems receive vast amounts of data regarding adverse events associatedwith a particular product and analyze the data in light of already knownadverse events associated with the product. The system develops at leastone proprietary database of newly discovered adverse event informationand new uses for the product and may catalog adverse event informationfor a large number of population sub-groups. The system may also beprogrammed to incorporate the information into intellectual property andcontract documents. Manufacturers can include the information inconsumer product information which they provide to consumers or, in thecase of certain medical products, prescribers of the medical products.

[0029] U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,142 B1, issued May 8, 2001, to Benigno etal., discloses systems useful for analyzing data related to clinicalpathways and performing actions based upon the analyses. Aself-analyzing system for suggesting default clinical pathways forvarious procedures. A self-analyzing system for suggesting deviationfrom a current clinical pathway and entry into an alternative clinicalpathway based upon historical information about the results of actions.Statistical analysis systems based on clinical pathways. A rating systemfor care providers or proposed pathways based on historical information.Systems for gathering clinical pathway information. Systems for trackingclinical pathway outcomes based on data collected post-treatment. Asystem for prequalification for appropriate discharge and post-dischargehandling of and communication with a new class of patient, thoserequiring stable acute care. A questionnaire computer language andsubsystem are used in various stages of the systems of the invention.Corresponding methods are also disclosed.

[0030] U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,322 B1, issued Sep. 4, 2001, to Liffet al.,discloses an automated drug dispensing system that includes a cabinetadapted to store a variety of prepackaged pharmaceuticals in a pluralityof bins for filling patient prescriptions. Each bin stores a particularvariety of packaged multiple-dose pharmaceutical. Each variety ofpharmaceutical is associated with a particular code. A controllerreceives request signals and in response generates dispense signals.Each bin includes a dispenser coupled to the controller for dispensingthe packaged pharmaceuticals therefrom in response to a dispense signalsent from the controller. After a package is dispensed, a code readerdetermines the code of the dispensed package and verifies whether thecode on the dispensed package matches the code of the requested package.

[0031] U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,394 B1, issued May 29, 2001, to Uecker etal., discloses a system for generating targeted advisory messages forpharmacy patients based on selected monitored data components of eachtransaction. When a pharmacy computer prints transaction data, thesystem monitors the data using printer data capture hardware interposedbetween the pharmacy computer and its printer. An additional processorcompares selected components of the monitored transaction data withpreselected combinations of the these components in a database. Thedatabase associates the preselected combinations of transaction datacomponents with advisory message components retrieved from the databaseand used to build an advisory message for output to a printer, which maybe the pharmacy computer or an additional printer. Targeting of theadvisory messages is based on selected combinations of the identity ofthe drug being dispensed to the patient, the patient's age and gender,the new or renewal status of the prescription, and the identity of theparty primarily responsible for payment to the pharmacy for thetransaction.

[0032] The above-cited patents do not solve the problem of misused andabused prescriptions discussed above. Consequently, there remains a needfor an improved system for tracking prescription drugs and/or controlledsubstances. Those of skill in the art will appreciate the presentinvention which addresses the above and other problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0033] An objective of the present invention is to provide an improvedmethod for controlling information related to controlled substancesand/or prescriptive medications.

[0034] Another objective of the present invention is to provide acomplete prescriptive medication history of patients for use by doctors,hospitals, pharmacists, and other health care workers.

[0035] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a meansfor searching massive amounts of data for selected criteria to reducecosts involved with prescriptive medications.

[0036] These and other objectives, features, and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent from the drawings, thedescriptions given herein, and the appended claims. However, it will beunderstood that the above-listed objectives of the invention areintended only as an aid in quickly understanding aspects of theinvention, and are not intended to limit the invention in any way, andtherefore do not form a comprehensive or restrictive list of objectives,and/or features, and/or advantages.

[0037] Accordingly, the invention comprises, in one embodiment thereof,a method for tracking prescriptive medications. The method may compriseone or more steps such as, for instance, providing respective computerconnections to a plurality of entities wherein the plurality of entitiesmay comprise a plurality of unaffiliated and/or affiliated pharmacies,storing pharmaceutical computer data relating to prescriptive medicationpurchases obtained by a plurality of prescriptive medication purchasersfrom the plurality of unaffiliated pharmacies, and selectivelytransferring the pharmaceutical computer data through the computerconnections to at least one of the plurality of entities for obtaining amedication history of a selected prescriptive medication purchaser forall prescriptive medications purchased by the selected prescriptivemedication purchaser from all of the plurality of unaffiliatedpharmacies based on the transferred pharmaceutical computer data.

[0038] The method may further comprise providing that the at least oneof the plurality of entities comprises a physician's office and theselected prescriptive medication purchaser is a patient of the physiciansuch that the physician's office utilizes the pharmaceutical computerdata to verify the medication history of the selected prescriptivemedication purchaser.

[0039] Other steps may further comprise providing that the at least oneof the plurality of entities comprises a pharmacy with a pharmacist,such that when the selected prescriptive medication purchaser requeststhat the pharmacist fill a new prescriptive medication then thepharmacist utilizes the pharmaceutical computer data to compare the newprescriptive medication with respect to the medication history of theselected prescriptive medication purchaser. The method may furthercomprise the pharmacist accepting or declining to fill the newprescriptive medication based on the medication history.

[0040] Other steps may further comprise providing that at least one ofthe plurality of entities comprises a hospital and the selectedprescriptive medication purchaser is a patient of the hospital such thatthe hospital utilizes the pharmaceutical computer data to determine themedication history of the selected prescriptive medication purchaser.

[0041] The method may further comprise providing that the pharmaceuticalcomputer data for each of the prescriptive medication purchasescomprises a name of a respective prescriptive medication purchaser, anaddress of the respective prescriptive medication purchaser, a drugprescribed, the respective prescriptive medication purchaser, a quantityof the drug, a dosage of the drug, a pharmacist name, and a doctor name.

[0042] The method may further comprise searching the storedpharmaceutical computer data based on one or more of the name of arespective prescriptive medication purchaser, the address of therespective prescriptive medication purchaser, the drug prescribed, therespective prescriptive medication purchaser, the quantity of the drug,the dosage of the drug, the pharmacist name, and the doctor name.

[0043] Other steps may further comprise storing pharmaceutical datarelated to whether a request for filling a prescriptive medication isfilled or declined and/or providing that at least one of the pluralityof entities comprises a government agency and/or storing pharmaceuticalcomputer data relating to aberrant use of prescriptive medications.

[0044] The method of claim may further comprise providing that theplurality of entities may comprise a plurality of hospitals, a pluralityof doctors, and at least one government agency, and selectivelytransferring the pharmaceutical computer data through the computerconnections to at least one of the plurality of hospitals, the pluralityof doctors, or the at least one government agency.

[0045] This summary is not intended to be a limitation with respect tothe features of the invention as claimed, and this and other objects canbe more readily observed and understood in the detailed description ofthe preferred embodiment and in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0046] For a further understanding of the nature and objects of thepresent invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich like elements are given the same or analogous reference numbersand wherein:

[0047]FIG. 1 is a block diagrammatic view showing one possibleorganization interconnection structure in accord with the presentinvention; and

[0048]FIG. 2 is a block diagrammatic view showing a presently preferredflow diagram of operation in accord with the present invention.

[0049] While the present invention will be described in connection withpresently preferred embodiments, it will be understood that it is notintended to limit the invention to those embodiments. On the contrary,it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalentsincluded within the spirit of the invention.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FOR CARRYING OUT THEINVENTION

[0050] In accord with the method of the present invention, a secure,private, independent, network-based, centralized method operable fortracking and managing prescriptive medication information in aggregateis provided which allows electronic querying and real-time notificationof patients' prescriptive medication history at the time of prescriptivemedication creation. According to the method of the invention, thisinformation is accessible within a controlled and appropriate contextfor use by healthcare professionals involved in the delivery of care tothat patient.

[0051] Referring now to the drawings and, more particularly to FIG. 1,there is shown one possible computer interconnection arrangement 10between various entities/organizations and pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 that may be utilized to implement the method ofthe present invention. Pharmaceutical information control organization12 may be implemented as an independent information utility that acts asthe central service center for the management of prescriptive medicationdrugs. By allowing ready access to appropriate information at variouspoints within the prescriptive medication process, pharmaceuticalinformation control organization 12 helps to protect the patient from avariety of potential risks associated with the prescribing of drugs andcreates an audit capability that can help protect the healthcareprofessional, while eliminating significant financial overspending dueto information gaps and misuse. Pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12 may be effectively operated utilizing different types oforganization structures, e.g., for-profit business entity, nonprofitbusiness entity, and the like. Pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12 may be monitored as desired using any suitable oversightgroup, e.g., a representative group from the various healthcare valuechain members to ensure acceptable levels of information security,access and protection. Pharmaceutical information control organization12 may be created as an independent, nonaffiliated entity to act as theinformation liaison between all members of the healthcare community.

[0052] Many different types of entities/organizations may beelectronically interconnected in accord with the present invention withrespect to pharmaceutical information control organization 12. The typesof data available to each organization maybe filtered depending on thetype of organization/entity and the need thereof for the various typesof pharmaceutical information available from pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12.

[0053] Consumers and patients 16 get the most benefit from the presentinvention. They will have a comfort knowing that their physician andother healthcare professionals involved in their care will have secureand private access to historical information about their active andinactive prescriptive medications that can create problems orinteractions. Pharmaceutical information control organization 12 willpermit consumers and their physicians to better manage the patient'sprescriptive plan, lessening risk of misuse and counter indications. Ifdesired, consumers may have access only to their own pharmaceuticalrecords. Schedules of use may be provided and means for tracking, suchas reminders, clocks, and so forth may be provided. If desired,consumers may provide feedback through pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 as to the patient's perceived condition that maybe accessed by physicians 18, pharmaceutical drug companies and/orresearch organizations 22 interested in drug efficacy, managed careorganizations 20, and the like.

[0054] Government oversight entities 14, such as the DEA, FBI, CDC, andso forth, may be able to utilize data as required to reach theorganization goals and within the limitations required therefore. Forinstance, the DEA may review data to determine areas where violationsmay be occurring. Presently, legal regulations may require that eachtime a prescriptive medication is filled that a paper copy of thetransaction is forwarded to the DEA. However, compiling and using suchdata, which may involve billions of transactions, is overwhelminggovernmental manpower availability and results in high manpower costswith reduced investigative overview capability. Moreover, pharmacieswaste manpower and time filling out and filing such papers. Governmentagencies such as the DEA, FBI, Veterans Administration Medical System,National Institutes of Health, and the like, will find new efficienciesby utilizing the present invention. Even the pending new MedicarePrograms, which include Pharmaceutical programs, can be brought topublic availability with the comprehensive management support that islacking today. The present invention removes many of the managementlimitations that affect such efficiencies and will help control costs ofprogram delivery. All of these entities can have immediate access topotential medication abuse by identification of needless prescriptionduplications, potential drug interactions, and multi-source interstateprescriptive medication abuse. The system of the present invention maybe utilized to recognize fraudulent prescriptive medications,geographically track selected drug purchases as maybe desired intracking disease spread, track purchases related to securityinvestigations such as use of antidotes for certain bioweapons, trackpharmaceutical purchase for other investigative reasons, obtain feedbackfrom prescriptive medication users as discussed subsequently, and/orprovide many types of information and statistics not presently availabletoday.

[0055] Pharmaceutical companies and researchers 22 are in a constantrace to provide the public with pharmacological formulations that arecompatible with constantly evolving therapeutic formulations, and whoseavailability is being accelerated by the rapid expansion of effectiveclinical trials and research protocols. The pharmaceutical industry'sability to respond effectively to the competitive as well as regulatorydemands is challenging because of the difficulty in realizing real ornear term information access and tracking information. Thisresponsibility requires an ongoing current database of pharmaceuticaldemands, immediate identification of adverse reactions, and recognitionof the costly development of redundant pharmaceutical products.Pharmaceutical information control organization 12 provides thepharmaceutical industry with a vehicle to help them track and accessappropriate information about prescriptive drugs. Pharmaceuticalinformation control organization 12 provides the pharmaceutical industrywith services which will assist in better planning, real time assessmentand forecasting of regional pharmaceutical demands, helping to preventessential medication shortages or unavailability. As well, the need forrecalls can be more quickly determined based on focused adverse drugreactions which are noted to occur.

[0056] Insurance companies 24, health organizations 28 such asemployers' health organizations, workers' compensation providers,private third party payers, PPO's, HMO's, MCO's 20, Medicare programs,life insurance companines, and the like, can monitor information toimmediately determine needless prescription duplications, potential druginteractions, and multi-source interstate prescriptive medication abuseto thereby significantly reduce insurance costs.

[0057] Pharmacies 26 may check to personally verify the drug usage ofeach purchaser to immediately detect problems related to abuse, fraud,and misuse of medications. Pharmacies require a more precise method ofmonitoring the efficiency of the distribution of the more than threebillion prescriptive medications they fill each year. The number ofchain pharmacies has now risen to approximately 35,000 stores. Theability of pharmacies 26 to provide the highest quality service isplacing a strain on staffing and the delivery of rapid, timely andaccurate products. Pharmacists are constantly challenged to circumventduplication, abuse, fraud, and misuse of these medications whileproviding a cost effective medication delivery system. In the presenthealth system the wide availability of pharmaceuticals from differentpharmacies raises the risks of negative drug interactions and itsassociated destructive medical outcome. Pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 can flag these issues in real time, therebycompletely preventing or at least minimizing their occurrences.Pharmaceutical information control organization 12 reduces or eliminatesreliance on poorly trained pharmacy technicians or assistants inensuring compliance with the regulatory agency demands in the accuratedelivery of pharmaceuticals.

[0058] Physicians 18 and other healthcare providers are at risk everytime they prescribe a drug. These physicians, seeking to provide theirpatients with the best possible healthcare possible, do not currentlyhave a vehicle for ensuring they have an accurate view of theirpatients' use of prescription drugs. Information about prescriptivemedications from specialists or other referral services may not becommunicated appropriately. Patients may not remember prescriptivemedications they are taking, forgetting about them completely or notbeing able to pronounce them. Patients with regular prescriptivemedication patterns can empower physicians to proactively deal withpotential abuse problems. Pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12 can also provide audit information that helps protectthe professional from lawsuits and other potential liabilities.Physicians or their staff can also interact with patients 16 throughinformation control organization 12, if desired. As well, physiciansand/or their staff can keep records of patients in the system as well asprovide researchers valuable information about the effects ofprescriptive medications on literally hundreds of millions of patients.Hospitals' 30 therapeutics, e.g. emergency room, often requiresadministration of medications on an acute and subacute basis with littleor no knowledge of each patient's outpatient medication profile.Pharmaceutical information control organization 12 provides this vitaldata in a manner that will change the hospital medication deliverysystem in a dramatic fashion. The added information immediately reducescosts, adverse drug reactions, and eliminates the risks of facilitatingdrug abuse and misuse.

[0059] Application products/industry service providers 32, such ashealthcare informatics providers, may use industry standard XMLinterfaces W3C which may define a dialect of SGML suitable for use onthe World-Wide Web. SGML provides a generic markup language forrepresenting documents and/or other data. SGML is an InternationalStandard that describes the relationship between a document's contentand its structure. SGML allows document-based information to be sharedand reused across applications and computer platforms in an open,vendor-neutral format. SGML is sometimes compared to SQL, in that itenables companies to structure information in documents in an openfashion, so that it can be accessed or reused by any SGML-awareapplication across multiple platforms. SGML is defined in “ISO 8879:1986Information processing—Text and office systems—Standard GeneralizedMarkup Language (SGML),” an ISO standard produced by JTC 1/SC 18 andamended by “Amendment 1:1988.” Unlike other common document file formatsthat represent both content and presentation, SGML represents adocument's content data and structure (interrelationships among thedata). Removing the presentation from content establishes a neutralformat. SGML documents and the information within can easily be reusedby publishing and non-publishing applications. SGML identifies documentelements such as titles, paragraphs, tables, and chapters as distinctobjects, allowing users to define the relationships between the objectsfor structuring data in documents. The relationships between documentelements are defined in a Document Type Definition (DTD). This isroughly analogous to a collection of field definitions in a database.Once a document is converted into SGML and the information has been‘tagged,’ it becomes a database-like document. It can be searched,printed or even programmatically manipulated by SGML-aware applications.If desired, secure access applets will allow informatics providers tointegrate their products and services to include data access frompharmaceutical information control organization 12 in a seamlessfashion. Thus, pharmaceutical information control organization 12creates an independent utility service that adds value to applicationproducts and other service providers 32 while maintaining the overallgoal of benefitting the public.

[0060] Thus, healthcare informatics and applications (such as physicianpractice management systems or Pharmacy systems) will be providedvehicles to securely access and interact with pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 using industry standards such as XML andsecurity tools. As appropriate, pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12 may provide secure applets that will make it easier tointegrate computer interactions with pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12, as well as minimize the development costs associatedwith interfacing these applications.

[0061]FIG. 2 discloses a presently preferred pharmaceutical informationflow diagram 100 for a method of operation of pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 in accord with the present invention. Aplurality of entities, networks, organizations may be utilized in accordwith the present invention including doctors 102. Pharmacies 104 includepharmacies that are affiliated with each other as well as pharmaciesthat are unaffiliated with each other. Other entities include hospitals106, pharmaceutical companies 108, insurance companies 110 (which mayinclude health or life insurance companies or any other type ofinsurance companies), government agencies 112, health care informaticscompanies 114, health researchers 116, managed care organizations 118,and other healthcare providers 120. Such users may typically maintaintheir own database(s) of information as well as desire to access theoverall information concerning each patient's pharmaceutical informationwhich is not presently available. In a preferred embodiment, the presentinvention provides that data storage 122 is able to access the databasesof the above-listed entities and/or other member organizations as neededand/or store the corresponding pharmaceutical data in data storage 122which is external to each entity's database(s). Thus, the presentinvention may be implemented using various types of data storage anddata access including distributed searchable databases throughout theentities listed above whereby selected pharmaceutical data access toeach database is available to data storage 122 and/or the above-listedentities, and/or a composite data storage 122 that is external withrespect to the databases of the above entities but includes the relevantpharmaceutical data within each of the above entity's database(s). Datastorage 122 provides a scalable, robust data store that maintains allpertinent information about prescriptive medication activities. Datastorage 122 preferably has the ability to allow the software schemas tobe changed without disruption of system 100.

[0062] In a preferred embodiment, when pharmaceutical data is needed byentities 102-120, or other suitable entities, then a login request ismade as indicated at 124. The login request may be made through one ormore different types of computer network interconnections, threepossibilities of which are in FIG. 2. However, other types computerconnections are also possible. A secure applet may be utilized asindicated at 126. The applet executes and initiates the login procedure.The applet may typically be supplied by pharmaceutical informationcontrol organization 12 or a third party vendor. Applets are Javaprograms which can be distributed as an attachment in a World-Wide Webdocument and executed in a Java-enabled web browser. Web browsers canalso be extended with plugins though these differ from applets in thatthey usually require manual installation and are platform specific.Server-side Java programs which may be called servlets may also beutilized.

[0063] Alternatively, or in conjunction therewith, an applicationprogram interfaces (API) may be utilized to effect the login asindicated at 128. The API is the interface (calling conventions) bywhich an application program accesses the pharmaceutical data. An APImay typically be defined as source code level and provides a level ofabstraction between the application and the kernel (or other privilegedutilities) to ensure the portability of the code. The API can provide aninterface between a high level language and lower level utilities andservices which were written without consideration for the callingconventions supported by compiled languages. In this case, the API'smain task may be the translation of parameter lists from one format toanother and the interpretation of call-by-value and call-by-referencearguments in one or both directions.

[0064] As another option, a consumer accessing pharmaceuticalinformation control organization 12 may utilize a secure web browser asindicated at 130 to initiate the login. By web browser it is meant aprogram which allows a person to read hypertext. The browser gives somemeans of viewing the contents of nodes (or “pages”) and of navigatingfrom one node to another.

[0065] Login authentication system 132 is provided to authenticate thevalidity of the login to provide verification of the identity of aperson/entity or process that is attempting to access pharmaceuticalinformation control organization 12. Authentication verifies thatmessages really come from their stated source. Various means ofauthentication may be utilized including login/password, biometrics,digital signatures, public and private digital encryption keys, digitalcertificates, and the like. The login process will identify the user andrestrict the type of data transmitted according to the predetermineddata sets that the particular user may access. If the login step is notsuccessful, then the attempted login is automatically reported tosecurity as indicated at 134.

[0066] Various types of security information may be stored bypharmaceutical information control organization 12 within data storage122 or elsewhere. Such information may typically include the login name,login password, an optional biometric identifier, authentication of theuser, authorized data set access for each user, authorized types ofinformation transactions, an information log of access attempts (bothsuccessful and unsuccessful, an information log of transaction attempts(both successful and unsuccessful), encryption keys, digital signatures,and application programming interfaces where possible.

[0067] Assuming login process is successful, then the user may request apharmaceutical information transaction as indicated at 134. Suchtransactions may be of various types and include searches, updates,selecting specific information, displaying information, and the like.The so-determined pharmaceutical information is available in theappropriate context via the secure applet, API, and/or browser asdiscussed hereinbefore in connection with the login as indicated at 126,128, and 130. In this manner, current prescriptive medicationinformation may be requested. The various programs discussed aboveand/or others may be used to select specific types of data for transferas indicated at information access filter 136, and to send data eitherto or from the computer system of pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12, and change the format of the data as needed betweenthat used by the computer software of pharmaceutical information controlorganization 12 and the user software.

[0068] Various types of data may be stored and/or obtained such as thedoctor name, the doctor DEA number, patient name, patient ID (e.g. SS#,passport #, driver's license, etc.), patient address, city, state, zip,patient phone number, drugs prescribed, dosage, frequency, start/enddate, duration, quantity, number refills, whether substitution isallowed, generic allowed, notes, aberrant use flag, date prescriptionfiled, place prescription filled, pharmacist name, pharmacist phonenumber, pharmacist DEA number, and application programming interfacesutilized.

[0069] The request of data from the pharmaceutical transaction 134 issent to data storage 122. Various types of transactions may be utilizedsuch as updates, key word or other types of searches, name searches,drug type searches, and/or other types of searches based on theabove-listed types of data stored and/or other types of data which maybe stored. Transactions include authentication transactions, display ofactive medication history, display of inactive medication history,display of complete medication history. The display may be made by apatient identifier, patient name, date, drug name, doctor prescribingthe medication, pharmacy, geography (city, state, zip code), by phonenumber, and/or by aberrant use flag. Other transactions may includeadding a new record, update/change a record, add log entry, update logentry, display log entries, approve prescriptive medication, declineprescriptive medication, aberrant use flag true or false, acceptresults, decline results, logon, logoff, time out for inactivity, timeout for disconnection, encryption, and creating reports.

[0070] The data is filtered as to availability for the particular user,as indicated at 136. The data may be sent for display 137 and/orprinting. Data may be retrieved for updating data storage 122 asindicated at 148. The data may then be checked by the user or the user'sapplication in a preset time frame as indicated at 138. Depending on thetype of user, red flag issues may be indicated. For instance, if apharmacist is checking on a prescriptive medication prior to dispensingthe prescriptive medication, a red flag as indicated at 140 may beissued if the prescription presents a problem, e.g., is a conflictingtype of drug (contraindicated prescriptive medication) or perhaps asimilar type of drug which in combination with a previous prescriptivemedication might be harmful to the consumer. Red flags may be issued asa result of automatic or manual operation. System 100 and/or thepharmacist and/or the doctor may require or suggest declining orapproving the prescriptive medication, and otherwise add notes,comments, and flags, as desired. Assuming the user reviews and checksthe information supplied within the time frame, the control may bereturned to the user's application as indicated at 142 which may requireaction as indicated at 144 such as updating 146 either a local systemand/or data storage 122. Updating of data storage 122 may be programmedto occur at any time, depending on system operation, and may occuroutside of or during the transaction process as indicated at 148 wherebya connection is provided directly to the databases of the subscribers102-120. Data storage 122 may also receive other provider informationfor use with applications and services as indicated at 150.

[0071] In a presently preferred embodiment, if the user does not respondto the check request within a desired time frame, if necessary, such asby stating whether the prescriptive medication is approved/declined orso forth, such as after the pharmacist has checked a new request to filla prescription with respect to the requesters medical history, then thesystem resends the request to check the data as indicated at 152. Thus,the system seeks to know whether any new prescription is filled and thevarious data associated with the new prescriptive medication. Dependingon the type of entity, different types of data may be requested. Forinstance, for the hospital, information as to treatment and prescriptivemedications may be requested by the system. If no response is receivedas indicated at 154, then the data such as displayed data is clearedfrom the screen, the user is automatically logged off at 156, and areport is sent as may be required by an oversight agency as indicated at158. For instance, there may be a requirement to enter new data relatedto prescriptive medications, whether prescriptions are filled ordeclined, and so forth. In either case, a log is made of the request,status, time, data, requester, as indicated at 160, and the access logis updated.

[0072] Pharmaceutical information control organization 12 will provideappropriate levels of reporting, as desired, to any selected oversightbody or committee, as well as other healthcare members as appropriateand necessary. Such reporting/informational access can includeup-to-date patient prescriptive medication information to their primarycare physician or pharmacy, comparisons for potential drug interactions,and/or emergency information access.

[0073] For hosting and management, deployment of computer connectionswith pharmaceutical information control organization 12 is preferablymade via a secure, redundant, hosted environment. Operational andadministrative personnel will need to pass rigorous screening processes,and will only have access to information as is contextually necessary.

[0074] The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention istherefore illustrative and explanatory of one or more presentlypreferred embodiments of the invention and variations thereof, and itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes inthe design, organization, order of operation, means of operation,equipment structures and location, methodology, and use of mechanicalequivalents, as well as in the details of the illustrated constructionor combinations of features of the various elements, may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. As well, the drawings areintended to describe the concepts of the invention so that the presentlypreferred embodiments of the invention will be plainly disclosed to oneof skill in the art but are not intended to be manufacturing leveldrawings or renditions of final products and may include simplifiedconceptual views as desired for easier and quicker understanding orexplanation of the invention. As well, the relative arrangement of thecomponents may be greatly different from that shown and still operatewell within the spirit of the invention as described hereinbefore and inthe appended claims. It will be seen that various changes andalternatives maybe used that are contained within the spirit of theinvention. Because many varying and different embodiments may be madewithin the scope of the inventive concept(s) herein taught, and becausemany modifications may be made in the embodiment herein detailed inaccordance with the descriptive requirements of the law, it is to beunderstood that the details herein are to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in a limiting sense.

1. A method for tracking prescriptive medication, to address and controlprescription drug abuse, said method comprising: providing respectivecomputer connections to a plurality of entities, said plurality ofentities comprising a plurality of both affiliated and unaffiliatedpharmacies; storing pharmaceutical computer data related to prescriptivemedication purchases obtained by a plurality of prescriptive medicationpurchasers from said plurality of affiliated and unaffiliatedpharmacies; and selectively transferring said pharmaceutical computerdata through said computer connections to at least one of said pluralityof entities for obtaining a prescriptive history of a selectedprescriptive medication purchaser for all prescriptive medicationspurchased in the aggregate by said selected prescriptive medicationpurchaser from all of said plurality of affiliated and unaffiliatedpharmacies based on said transferred pharmaceutical computer data; andgenerating from said prescriptive history of said selected purchaser oneor more patterns which can be used by one or more viewers of saidprescriptive history to flag the possibility of prescriptive drug abuse.2. A method of claim 1, further comprising: providing that said at leastone of said plurality of entities comprises a physician's office andsaid selected prescriptive medication purchaser is a patient of saidphysician; and said physician's office utilizing said pharmaceuticalcomputer data to verify said prescriptive history of said selectedprescriptive medication purchaser.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: providing that said at least one of said plurality ofentities comprises a pharmacy with a pharmacist; said selectedprescriptive medication purchaser requesting that said pharmacist fill anew prescriptive medication; and said pharmacist utilizing saidpharmaceutical computer data to compare said new prescriptive medicationwith respect to said prescriptive history of said selected prescriptivemedication purchaser.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: saidpharmacist accepting or declining to fill said new prescriptivemedication based on said prescriptive history.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising: providing that at least one of said plurality ofentities comprises a hospital and said selected prescriptive medicationpurchaser is a patient of said hospital; and said hospital utilizingsaid pharmaceutical computer data to determine said prescriptive historyof said selected prescriptive medication purchaser.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: providing that said pharmaceutical computerdata for each of said prescriptive medication purchases comprises a nameof a respective prescriptive medication purchaser, an address of saidrespective prescriptive medication purchaser, a drug prescribed, saidrespective prescriptive medication purchaser, a quantity of said drug, adosage of said drug, a pharmacist name, and a doctor name.
 8. The methodof claim 7, further comprising: searching said stored pharmaceuticalcomputer data based on one or more of said name of a respectiveprescriptive medication purchaser, said address of said respectiveprescriptive medication purchaser, said drug prescribed, said respectiveprescriptive medication purchaser, said quantity of said drug, saiddosage of said drug, said pharmacist name, and said doctor name.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising: storing pharmaceutical datarelated to whether a request for filling a prescriptive medication isfilled or declined.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:providing that at least one of said plurality of entities comprises agovernment agency.
 22. A method for tracking prescriptive medications,to address and control prescription drug abuse, said method comprising;providing respective computer connections to a plurality of entities,said plurality of entities comprising at least one of a group comprisinga plurality of hospitals, a plurality of doctors, at least onegovernment agency, and a plurality of doctors; storing pharmaceuticalcomputer data relating to prescriptive medication purchases obtained bya plurality of prescriptive medication purchasers from a plurality ofpharmacies; selectively transferring said pharmaceutical computer datathrough said computer connections to at least one of said plurality ofentities for obtaining a prescriptive history of a selected prescriptivemedication purchaser for all prescriptive medications purchased in theaggregate by said selected prescriptive medication purchaser from all ofsaid plurality of pharmacies based on said transferred pharmaceuticalcomputer data; and generating from said prescription history of saidselected purchaser one or more patterns which can be used by one or moreviewers of said prescriptive history to flag the possibility ofprescriptive drug abuse.